The Bank of America Charitable Foundation has announced grants totaling $22 million to nonprofits that build and renovate affordable housing, offer foreclosure prevention services and homeowner counseling, and provide other services designed to stabilize neighborhoods.

The grants to more than six hundred and fifty national and local organizations in thirty-four states are expected to result in approximately eight thousand new affordable housing units and eleven thousand renovated units benefiting more than thirty-one million people. In alignment with the bank's integrated approach to issues of housing, jobs, and hunger, about 42 percent of the grantees provide housing-related services alongside other programs designed to strengthen families' financial stability.

Grants include $375,000 to Mercy Housing, Inc., which has programs in Alabama, California, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, South Carolina, Washington, and Wisconsin, and $25,000 to Plymouth Housing Group, which works to eliminate homelessness and support low-income people in downtown Seattle.

"Bank of America recognizes that housing plays a critical role in stabilizing communities and advancing economic development, and we continue to look for ways to support innovative programs that will help individuals and families access and retain affordable housing," said Kerry Sullivan, the foundation's president. "Our partnerships with local and national organizations that address housing needs are just one of the ways we're working to help improve local economies across the country."